If you’re going to do any screen printing, you have to at least know the basics of it. You can print posters, t-shirts, and a lot more, but only if you do it right. At a minimum, you have to have screens, a scoop coater, squeegees, light sensitive emulsion, an exposure light source, and ink.

The screens can have either metal frames or wooden ones, and they are covered with a fabric mesh that has been stretched. Holes in the mesh let ink go through the screen. How many of these holes exist and how big each hole is will affect the flow of ink and is used to rate the screens.

The squeegees are used to push the ink through the screens and onto whatever you are printing on. The ink then has to cure, which is where the UV light source comes in. By using it and the light sensitive emulsion you can cure the ink – which actually isn’t ink but a chemical compound – and it will remain on the t-shirt through many washings or on the poster for many years to come.

Not everyone uses fancy and expensive techniques for screen printing. Some still use paper stencils. You can use paper stencils with your screens quite easily, and make both positive and negative prints.

You’ll want to cut a sheet of paper that matches the size of the screen that you’re using. Then, trace the design onto a paper that’s both durable and water-resistant, like contact paper or freezer paper. You can cut the stencil out with any kind of craft knife. When you get the print ready, though, you may end up with some extra ink, so make sure you clean up any excess and do a test print before you print on something of value.

You can make several prints this way, too, but you have to be careful because the paper stencil will not have as much durability as some other ways of making prints, and most of that depends on both the paper that you use and the way that you handle it. With good paper and a little care, it will last much longer.

If you’re planning on doing some screen printing or if you just want to learn more about it, here are five things that you need to know:

• Start with good artwork. If what you start out with is jagged or grainy, the finished product isn’t going to look good, either.

• Make sure you keep each one of the colors on a separate film. If you do that, you can keep the colors separate and not have them bleed into each other when you print.

• Make your screens properly. There are easy (but rather time-consuming) ways of making your screens, and you should make sure that you do them correctly to avoid problems.

• Get the right printing press. If you don’t use the right one, or if you buy a really cheap one, your results will reflect that.

• You’ll need both a flash unit and a conveyor dryer. Make sure you get good ones and get comfortable using them.

Paying attention to what you need for screen printing and getting the right items (and good quality) will keep your finished product looking great.

For those printers who want to get back into using discharge inks, there are several different types of them to consider.

The water-based and ZFS-activated discharge ink is still the most popular one. It is also the most traditional and easily the most versatile. There is a wide array of colors available in this ink and the prints are very consistent, with a softness to the resulting finish that is generally superior.

However, there are other discharge inks such as a Plastisol/water-based hybrid. These have an advantage for those who aren’t familiar with discharge inks, because they are by far the easiest to use.

Water-based thioureadioxide-activated inks were created so that the formaldehyde exposure of ZFS-activated inks could be avoided. It works very similar, and it also has its own concerns and constraints when it comes to the chemicals that are being handled.

No matter what method is used with discharge inks, the printer will need to choose the right one for themselves, and for the project being created. That’s the best way to get high-quality and lasting products.

If you’re new to screen printing or if you don’t know that much about the business, you might not be familiar with discharge inks. These inks are being discussed as new, but they have actually been around for quite some time, and they are enjoying renewed popularity.

They work by extracting the dye, or bleaching it out, from the fabric that the printer is working with. Some of them also work by replacing the dye that is removed with the color pigment (ink) that is being printed. These inks have gotten a lot better and a lot more versatile, and they are more popular now because the printers who are getting back into using them, see that they are working much better than they had in the past.

These inks come in a lot of different types and seem to work like magic to people who aren’t used to them. The operation takes place in a large dryer and the print doesn’t look good at all when it comes out, but it looks a lot better once it has been cured properly.